Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame

Relive It All Again

Basketball

Ruppert_Howie

Howie Ruppert

Howie Ruppert was a transformative coach at St. Peter’s High School; at the College of Staten Island, where he won back-to-back CUNY championships and a Metro Coach of the Year award; and at Seton Hall where, as an assistant coach, he helped steer the Pirates’ run to the 1989 NCAA championship game. But one triumph stands above the others. When Ruppert’s 1983 St. Peter’s team won the CHSAA city championship, they became – and remain (Read more...)

Saitilus_Geraldine

Geraldine Saintilus

A two-sport high school star, Geraldine Saintilus was an All-Big East basketball player at Seton Hall, where she set records for scoring, rebounding and steals, and was named New Jersey Player of the Year and Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year. At Curtis High School, Saintilus led the Warriors to three Staten Island championships and a city semifinal in basketball, and three more Island titles in softball.(Read more...)

Semerad_John

John Semerad

John Semerad was a two-sport star at Monsignor Farrell HS – the 1975 Jaques Award winner as Staten Island’s best high school basketball player, and an Atlanta Braves draftee – and at Seton Hall University. An All-Met, All-Big East, All-Northeast and All-ECAC slugger and team MVP, Semerad twice led the Pirates in home runs and RBIs, helped take the Hall to three NCAA Tournaments, and played for the United States team in the 1979 Pan (Read more...)

Signorile_Jim

Jim Signorile

Jim Signorile, a 6-8 center from New Dorp High School, was NYU’s leading scorer and rebounder in 1969 and 1970, and the team MVP. He scored 1,235 career points – 50 of them in one game, a school record. Drafted by the Knicks and Carolina Cougars, Signorile played six seasons of professional basketball in Europe, averaging 40 points a game, and scored 101 points one night in the French Basketball League.(Read more...)

James Sparrow

James Sparrow set scoring records at McKee High School, where he was the school’s first 1,000-point scorer; at Laurinburg (N.C.) Institute, where he broke Basketball Hall of Famer Charlie Scott’s records; and at North Carolina A&T, where he scored 1,986 career points. A three-time All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference player and 1976 MEAC Player of the year, Sparrow led the Aggies to four regular-season and conference tournament titles. His record 30-point tournament scoring average, set in 1976, (Read more...)